Appropriate Technology

The AT department activities are governed by the principles of reduction, efficiency and replacement. We aim to use as little energy as possible.

Where we do use energy we chose the most energy efficient methods available. And finally, because Sunseed is off grid, we must provide all of our energy ourselves.

As a result we promote DIY technologies and designs that anyone can learn and are widely applicable across Europe.

At Sunseed we have self-installed solar photovoltaic and a DIY wind turbine which provide our off-grid electricity systems.

We also have DIY solar hot water panels that provide us with hot water for most of the year. A couple of our houses have self-built thermal mass stoves to provide winter heat, one of which takes over on the hot water provision when the sun hours shorten.

The AT department is also responsible for the village hydraulic ram pump that provides water to the rest of the village.

The concept of which is several hundred years old. It uses the momentum of falling water to pump up a smaller amount of water to a higher point. Water is supplied to the pump via an ancient irrigation line built by the Moors during their occupation of Spain 1000 years ago.

What we did during the last months?

• SUMMER 2011
• Installed new 930Ah traction batteries at the Main House
• Wind turbine course - installed a 1kW turbine at an off-grid cortijo
• Annual maintenance of the Sunseed wind turbine in the Solar Garden:
• rotor alignment, balancing of blades, protective coating
• Built open source wind turbine controller circuit and dump load
• Major overhaul of the ram pump
• Installed a battery monitor to Isabella's using an M10 bolt as a shunt
• Irrigation line maintenance - cleaning pipes, fixing leaks
• PV course - designed and installed off-grid PV system at Isabella's
• Measured IV curves of all the different PV modules
• Software simulation of all three PV systems with PVSyst
• Helped with refurbishment of the cana bridge
• Hosted Greenpeace scouts for irrigation line maintenance
• Several AT tours
• Visit to Plataform Solar
• Wind turbine article for Ecohabitar magazine

What's going on in the next month?

• AUTUMN 2011
• Improvements to the monitoring of the water distribution system:
• installation of new flow meter and pressure gauge
• Installing new PV modules
• Installing new inverter at Isabella's and converting the system to 24V:
• including wind turbine, wind controller, battery bank and lighting
• Improving all PV mounts to have adjustable seasonal tilt
• Improving lighting and wiring where applicable
• Refurbish Solar Hot Water system and prepare Thermal Mass Stove for winter
• Irrigation line maintenance ongoing

Appropriate Technology Coordinator

CSABA ZAGONI

Not really satisfied by being a passive part of an extremely wasteful and mindless consumer society, I joined Sunseed with an aspiration to be the change I'd like to see in the world today.

Before coming here I had been working with Greenpeace UK developing a long-term plan to substantially reduce the environmental impact of their London HQ while also completing my masters in Renewable Energy at the Centre for Alternative Technology.

As I’ve spent a lot of time traveling in the last few years, having seen many ways of living from the richest of European capitals to the poorest of highland Guatemala, I think I have a global understanding of why sustainable energy solutions are inevitable to tackle the environmental issues we are facing today. However, my thirst for understanding is not restricted to technology at all, I’m especially interested in working with the ecology and organic growing departments to develop an integral knowledge of natural systems and human interaction.